Rick Scott gets his Democratic challenger in Florida

CORAL GABLES, Florida — Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former House member, will face off against Republican Sen. Rick Scott in November, in a race Democrats are hoping to put on the map as they scramble to keep control of the chamber.

Mucarsel-Powell and Scott both easily defeated lesser-known challengers in Tuesday’s primary. Scott is not only hoping voters will reelect him to a second term in November, but afterward intends to run for GOP leader to try to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is stepping down from conference leadership.

Scott won previous gubernatorial elections by narrow margins, and only beat then-Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson by just 10,000 votes to win his first term in 2018 following a recount. But the dynamics on the ground has shifted since then: Florida now has 1 million more active GOP voters than Democrats, giving statewide Republicans an edge. But the ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket could shake up the race, especially if Democratic groups or the presidential campaign begin significant spending in Florida — which they have yet to do in a state that’s notoriously expensive to campaign in.

Mucarsel-Powell said she welcomed Harris coming to Florida to "talk about the issues that we care about."

"We need to show that it's competitive," she told POLITICO of Florida during her victory night party. "But I'm going to tell you something: Whether they invest or not, the country will see what we are going to do in November."

People are "fired up" on the ground about a possible change in leadership, she added, saying she was aiming to build a coalition of supporters that included independent and GOP voters.

Mucarsel-Powell was the wire-to-wire leader of the Democratic primary, outraising her opponents and scoring major state and national endorsements, including getting the backing of President Joe Biden. Her race has focused on health care policies, abortion rights and promises to protect Medicare and Social Security. She also released a list of bills to address affordability that she planned to support if elected.

Mucarsel-Powell, who is Ecuadorian American, would be the second Latina elected to the Senate if she wins in November. She won her House seat in the 2018 blue wave, but lost the seat two years later to now-GOP Rep. Carlos Giménez .

On Latin American policy, she has differed with the Biden administration on its decision to remove Cuba from the list of countries that don’t cooperate fully against terrorism, and after the tainted elections in Venezuela she called for denunciations of authoritarianism on both the left and right.

Scott has long worked to court Florida’s Hispanic voters, a key constituency that’ll be influential in deciding the outcome of the Senate race. He has blasted Biden — and now Harris — for how the administration is handling the election in Venezuela and recently had a phone call with the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.

Scott released a statement after his race was called that accused Harris, running mate Tim Walz and Mucarsel-Powell of being “the most radical socialist ticket of my lifetime” that “seeks to fundamentally destroy the promise of freedom in America for generations to come.”

Scott also has high name recognition in Florida as a former two-term governor and health care executive, and is an ally to former President Donald Trump. Just this week, he was in Chicago during the Democratic convention to offer up counterprogramming to Harris on behalf of the Trump campaign.

He chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee last cycle, where his “Rescue America” plan was used to pillory GOP candidates across the country. After disappointing results for the party in 2022, Scott unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for his party leadership post, and is arguably McConnell’s biggest intraparty rival in the Senate.

Most of his campaign messaging has centered on cutting taxes and regulations, which he says will help more people access employment. Scott, who grew up in poverty, is also the wealthiest member of Congress, giving him the power to self-finance his campaign — something he has done routinely since first running for office in 2010.